


What If This Storm Ends (And I Don't See You)

by Lizicia



Series: I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Skye returns, Still AU, sort of, still canon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 08:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2686661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizicia/pseuds/Lizicia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Ward's dreams are getting more frequent and more invasive; he's turned from a mere spectator into a participant and the worst thing is how real it all feels. And yet, he has no idea how to reconcile the person he is in that dream with the person he really is. Because they are not the same person but they both feel like him and yet, the dreams feel better, and then again, also heavier and more melancholic.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	What If This Storm Ends (And I Don't See You)

**Author's Note:**

> Double-posted on Tumblr.

“ _I'm not a good man, Skye.”_

“ _Yes, you are.”_

 

Ward wakes up with a start, all the emotions and sensations still rushing through him. The dreams are getting more frequent and more invasive; he's turned from a mere spectator into a participant and the worst thing is how real it all feels.

He can feel her hand on his thigh, as if it was still there, and her fingers coasting over his jaw; he can remember the way her eyes sparkled and hear the delicate whisper of her voice. Most troublingly, he can remember feeling so content and amazed and awestruck and just so _desperate_ for her when he reached out to kiss her. And he can still feel the softness of her lips, how sweet she tasted, how enthusiastically she responded to his kisses and how utterly happy he was in that one single moment.

And yet, he has no idea how to reconcile the person he is in that dream with the person he really is. Because they are not the same person but they both feel like him and yet, the dreams feel better, and then again, also heavier and more melancholic.

Ward briefly contemplates the not too impossible idea that Hydra did brainwash him – because he would never know – and that they implanted this image of an impossible woman into his memories, maybe as a fail safe. And now that he has abandoned them, has turned his back to the allegiance Garrett made him swear, the memories are designed to make him go mad.

And if he spends any more time thinking about his dreams, that will surely happen.

* * *

 

One night he wakes up and feels a disturbance in the air around him, a presence that surely has no place in his house. He quietly reaches for the gun he keeps under his pillow – better safe than dead – and slowly moves out of the bedroom to check the premises.

“Hello, Agent Ward.”

He turns towards the voice and comes face to face with a beautiful woman in a flower dress, another unfamiliar face who stands calmly in the middle of the living room as if she's been waiting for him.

“I will give you three seconds to explain yourself and then I'm going to shoot. One, two, th-”

“Skye.”

The name tumbles over her lips and Ward freezes.

“How do you know that name?”

She smiles. “Oh, so you have realized it is a name? Interesting.”

She moves as if to approach him but the gun stays trained on her and he shakes his head. “Don't move. Tell me about Skye.”

Strangely enough, she doesn't seem the least bit intimidated by him or the gun. “Have you seen her yet?”

“Are you with Hydra?”

She laughs incredulously. “Do I look like I'm with Hydra?”

“Then why are you here and what do you know about Skye?”

“Well, I know that you're looking for her and that in your search for her, you even went to Miles Lydon. I can presume that you don't know who she is and I am here to tell you that you're not making her up. You're remembering.”

He lowers the gun slightly but doesn't lose his vigilance. “Why would you come here to tell me this?”

She looks uncomfortable for a moment as she seems to ponder just how to respond. “Because I lost something too and I'm not okay with that.”

Her response is mysterious and Ward has no time to be playing mind games with a woman who's appeared in the middle of his safe house with no actual information to share. “Who is she?”

“I can only tell you this one thing: something big is coming. Something no one will be expecting and if you want answers, you will have to be right in the middle of it. Just trust your instincts, Agent Ward.”

It's still riddles and enigmatic sentences and Ward is getting irritated with this show when she claps her hands once and he is blinded by something which feels a lot like a stun grenade. When he finally comes back to his senses, she is gone.

And he has no idea what all that was about.

* * *

 

It takes less than two years from the Battle of New York for the aliens to invade the Earth again. This time they don't come on golden aircrafts and armed to the teeth; this time they come in the form of a single man. But that one man destroys one army after the other, burning cities and killing people just for the fun of it, bringing a reign of terror from China through Russia and Europe, and over the Atlantic until he lands in the middle of the Sonoran Desert where S.H.I.E.L.D. finally intervenes.

Ward knows all this because he watches the progression on the news, and while he is horrified – and slightly wishes he was still a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. – there is also something alluring and appealing about the man.

Whispers talk about a great power he's taken with him, a source of energy so immense that it can't be contained or even understood by the human mind, that one look at it will kill you.

But Ward feels an urge to join the battle, feels the need to see this energy, this new Tesseract that has landed on Earth, so he sets out for the desert before he's had time to fully realize his actions. Something else is compelling him.

When he gets to the battlefield, an eery sight greets him. Most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s manpower is contained in huge groupings of men and in front of them, the Avengers have gathered to take the bulk of the hit on themselves. But he doesn't have the time to wonder just how big the Hulk is in person or if Natasha is still the hard-ass she was when they did missions together or just how he is going to avoid his former team capturing him. His focus is solely on the man facing down this incredible army and not looking the least bit worried.

Because the need that has been driving him is concentrated here and he can't resist it anymore. Without any regard for anyone else, he just walks into the field, between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the mysterious man who doesn't seem to be doing anything. He can't see anything extraordinary about the man; he looks quite human and he is definitely not armed.

He vaguely hears Coulson yelling something behind his back, probably ordering him to get back or surrender – both likely scenarios – but he doesn't stop walking until his so close that he can make out the face of the mystery man who regards him carefully.

“So, we have a volunteer.”

He sneers it out and smirks at Ward but he doesn't feel scared, even though he logically should be.

The man gestures with his hand and suddenly, a cloud of hazy white energy creates itself out of thin air; an energy so strong that he can feel it crackling and gathering.

It spreads like wild-fire around them and he can hear the sound of battle erupt behind him as the energy unleashed probably ravages through the people but he only has eyes for the main source of it, a fixed point of light.

“Yes, that's right, look at it. Isn't it beautiful?”

And it is; it glows golden and red and yellow and seems to pulsate, winding itself up into a small hurricane-like abstraction. He is mesmerized but he isn't afraid; instead he feels more whole than he's felt since before he can remember.

He steps closer and the energy seems to perk up even more; when it weaves through the air in front of him, he can see glimpses of something more than just air and matter, something familiar.

Ward reaches out with his hand to touch the cloud and it electrifies his fingertips but doesn't burn; instead it soothes and caresses, until it suddenly spikes through him and oh, he  _remembers_ .

He remembers training sessions and bantering and guns and betrayal and affection and wonder and so much more, so much of his life transformed in front of his eyes until it all fixes in his mind and the puzzle pieces click into place like they've been dying to do, and it makes sense. He opens his eyes and the man in front of him sputters in disbelief.

“This is impossible.”

He utters more things in a language Ward doesn't understand but it is of little difference as he steps fully into the cloud of energy which binds itself around him, wrapping him up in a delicate net. And in that cloud he finally sees the girl from his dreams, an image which could be a figment of his imagination but he doesn't care because this is finally real.

“Skye.” He breathes out her name like he knows it and suddenly the energy strains around him, around them, trying to push him out but he doesn't relent.

“Skye.”

He doesn't know why he's saying that name but it just feels right. He is getting out of breath and he's losing his focus but through that, he knows that he just needs to say her name.

“Skye.”

And then in a flash of light, he feels the energy unleash itself, feels it erupt and die out over the desert in a cloud of white light. When he opens his eyes, she stands in front of him and he isn't sure if it's a hallucination or a dream or if he's dead.

But then she smiles like he's always known she would and the feeling inside his chest blossoms and he just smiles back.

“You remembered.”

And he doesn't know how he could ever have forgotten.

 


End file.
